Teachers get Independence

Educational Service Center buys building from group led
by Dalad for $5.7 million

Look for more office workers to start turning on the lights again in July near Rockside Road in Independence as the Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County, a multifaceted public education support group, takes up residence at Essex Place, which it recently acquired.
About 60 of the group's employees will occupy offices on the third floor of the 80,000-square-foot building, said Robert Mengerink, superintendent of the Educational Service Center. Other education-related organizations that lease space from the group will occupy other parts of the structure, he said.
The Educational Service Center's existing 20,000-square-foot building at 5811 Canal Road in Valley View is jammed. Space is so dear that it recently converted two closets to offices, said Dr. Mengerink, who holds a doctorate in education.
The new building at 6393 Oak Tree Blvd. is near the center of the county served by the group, which often has educators from throughout the region visit its headquarters. Locating in Independence also puts it in one of three school districts that it serves directly by law, Dr. Mengerink said.
Cuyahoga County land records show Educational Service Center on Dec. 19 paid $5.7 million to buy the Independence building from ES Investors Ltd., a group led by Dalad Group, a large commercial landlord in the south suburbs.
ES Investors nearly doubled its money in a short time, as it paid $2.9 million in June 2011 for the building — then with just 20% occupancy — in a distress sale.
Neil Viny, Dalad president, observed that the market tends to overreact and pummel values of high-vacancy buildings in a downturn. Dalad also added value to the building by boosting its occupancy with tenants that include the U.S. Department of Labor.
“We would have been delighted to lease the building to (Educational Service Center) and kept it in our portfolio, but they wanted to own,” Mr. Viny said.
Dr. Mengerink said his group sought to buy the building so that it could control who leases space in it.
Educational Service Center will install a training center on the first floor and redo the third floor of the building to suit its needs. Some of its 800 employees occasionally use its offices or meet at its headquarters because they work at public school districts in the county.
With school districts also embracing a goal of combining administrative functions to streamline operations, Dr. Mengerink said the Educational Service Center gains room to grow as it expands its manifold mission, which includes delivering special education and professional development services.
Although Educational Service Center is not a commercial tenant, the city of Independence is happy to see it move onto Oak Tree, said Jeremy Rowan, the city's economic development director.
“This takes an empty building, fills it up and provides income tax revenue for the city,” Mr. Rowan said.